Police have been given an extra 36 hours to question two boys over a savage attack which left two young boys in hospital - one critically ill.

It is thought the two boys - aged 11 and nine - may have been attacked with a brick and slashed with a knife.

Two other boys, aged 10 and 11 from the former mining village of Edlington, near Doncaster in South Yorkshire, are being questioned by police.

The extension keeps the pair in South Yorkshire Police custody until Tuesday evening.

The 11-year-old - the most seriously hurt - is showing signs of improvement after being brought by air ambulance to Sheffield Children's Hospital. He has been taken off a ventilator in the intensive care unit and is in a high dependency ward.

The nine-year-old boy, who suffered facial injuries and an injury to his arm, is expected to undergo further surgery.

Detectives have yet to speak to either victim.

Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt said it was not yet clear exactly what happened but it appears the two boys were beaten up for their trainers, mobile phones and £3 in cash.

The attack happened on Saturday when the 11-year-old was found semi-conscious at the bottom of a wooded ravine; the nine-year-old was found wandering along a street "dazed" and covered in blood from knife wounds.

Neighbour Jean Wright said: "My husband saw him walking past the outside of our house and he was covered in what my husband thought was red paint. When he went out he saw it was blood.

"We brought him in and my husband calmed him down. He had a big gash on his arm and he was covered in blood on his head.

"He was shaking very badly and going into shock. We managed to get his name out of him and my husband told me to call an ambulance."

Shocked neighbours said the boys were "regular", active youngsters.

One neighbour said the two boys were always together.

"They both play football. They're always out here. They're always together," she said.

She said the boy who lived a few doors away was a normal boy for his age.

"We've never had any trouble with him," she said.

Another man said: "They're just regular lads. They're not brothers but they are like brothers."

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